Jimellow

I've been informed through various sources that tuna consumption can lead to blindness in cats. As someone that eats tuna on a regular basis as a primary source of protein, I am curious if it has any detrimental side effects for us humans. It, along with chicken, seems to be one of the healthiest natural protein sources available, but I'm intrigued since coming across the information relating to its effect on cats.

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Ayashe

The only issue I have ever heard with tuna is warning about mercury which applies to all fish. Larger/older fish will tend to accumulate more mercury than a younger and smaller fish. They are still healthy for you, though it is recommended that you watch the amount that you consume. Particular attention should be given to pregnant women and small children.

Jetée

After a quick search on the matter, I am now more confused than when I started. Fish is a complicated animal, especially when you factor in that it can be eaten.

Various news presses, studies, and 'research' show that tuna and its oily-fish counterparts can do everything from: increasing concentration, decreasing depression, puts a higher risk for pregrant mothers to have premature birth, it can limit cancer risk especially that of prostate, alleviates asthma, produces a warning on autism for unborn children of expectant mothers, prevents and aids those who have had or are at risk of heart attack/stroke, or filling your your body with contiminants found in the fish, fights wrinkles, and after all those studies on tuna, the most surprising one of all claims that "when the results were pooled of no fewer than 89 studies into the benefits of omega 3 fats, they showed no strong evidence that omega 3 affected overall deaths, heart disease, strokes or cancer...".

Two noteworthy articles that I came across, and will present here show that, one story contradicts the OP's contention entirely, actually claiming that eating tuna, mackerel and salmon aid those in risk of going blind and can significantly decrease contracting the illness, while the other puts forth that fatty fish don't have any significant helath gains or losses when all is said and done.




One more article I came across that intrigued my soul was entitled: Blind Man 'Sees' : NPR
(you can listen and read the story at npr.org)

Excerpt:

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Willravel

I've been eating tuna pretty regularly since I was a very young boy. I still have 20/20.

LoganSnake

This.

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Baraka_Guru

What is "pretty regularly"? I've read that a can of tuna per week is the maximum you should eat if you're concerned about heavy metals.

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Jimellow

If only a can per week is recommended maximum, I'm toast.

Thanks for the research and replies. My cats really enjoy tuna, and I've been giving them a portion when I make a tuna sandwhich, but dad recently mentioned it could lead to blindness, thus this post.

It does seem to be a very healthy food on the surface, but as is the case with most things nowadays, it seems detrimental side effects may exist. I'm not overly concerned, but am curious, and the extent of my knowledge previously was that mercury level was at the center of the issue.

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snowy

I couldn't turn up any peer-reviewed research on tuna being directly connected to blindness in cats. I saw plenty of anecdotal mention of tuna leading to a form of macular degeneration called central retinal degeneration. So I looked that up (using my handy-dandy university library research website), and the main cause of the condition seems to be a lack of taurine in a cat's diet, and there's the crux of the matter--if you only feed your cat tuna fish, it won't get enough taurine, and it will go blind. Clearly, most intelligent pet owners don't feed their cats just tuna fish. And people don't eat just tuna fish either.

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jorgelito

This reminds me of the soy scare. I have also heard that tuna is bad for humans due to the heavy concentration of mercury. A can a week tops is deemed a relatively safe amount to consume.

I find it interesting that people are scared to eat soy products but not tuna.

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Baraka_Guru

I know.

The lesson? Eat a varied diet, and know the various health risks in food.

__________________
Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön

Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot

Willravel

It's not consistent, but I would guess that I maybe average about twice this.

I believe the best way to detox from mercury is with a diet low in sugar and bad fats, high in yogurt and cheeses, high in fiber, and plenty of garlic. I'll probably be okay. Or I'll go CRAZY!

Vigilante

Cats and humans have vastly different metabolic pathways. As such, there are things that we can do that many animals cannot. One good example is we can eat chocolate, but the thiobromine in it is deadly to dogs because they can't metabolize it. One more common one is that grapes and raisins are deadly to dogs and probably cats as well.

Cats can't catch tuna in the wild, so they probably shouldn't eat it. That is my general rule - if they can't catch it or are not otherwise exposed to it in the wild, they probably shouldn't have it. Can cats have...perch, bass, minnows? Oh yeah no sweat. Tuna? Guess not. Chicken? Sure. Beans? Hell no. Just a general rule of thumb I go by, but what do I know, I have a degree in entomology and my wife is a vet

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MSD

I googled 'mercury tuna' and found this as the first result.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/23/dining/23sushi.html
I'm quite glad that I went from having 12-18 pieces of sushi a week to almost none in the past few months. At the advice of my pediatrician when I was 17, I keep myself to having one can of tuna every two weeks, at most, even though I could probably do two a week at my size without exceeding FDA safe limits.

I used to have a can two or three times a week, especially when I was staying with my grandmother while in college. My vision is still around 20/15 in both eyes, so I'm going to guess that what snowy found on taurine deficiency is probably the answer. I'm at no risk of visions loss there considering my energy drink intake through college (although it didn't help my blood pressure much.)
Too late

sound chaser

I've never heard that happening in humans before. But cats have a different physiology to humans so that might be one factor.

Plaid13

Everything you eat is bad for you and your cat. Thats life. Do everything in moderation eating and otherwise and you and your cat will be fine.

Willravel

Eating cats causes humans to be blind to tuna?

Baraka_Guru

No, no. Your eating tuna will be bad for your cat when you die and the police find it eating your remains.

__________________
Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön

Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot

lotsofmagnets

does this mean that eating tuna is for cats the same as masturbating for humans?

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physics of a bicycle, isn't it remarkable?

highthief

And there's the answer. Taurine is typically added to prepared cat foods in order to give the cat a nutrient he requires and might otherwise not receive. Feeding a cat the odd bit of tuna won't hurt it, nor will it hurt people.

Living exclusively off tuna, however, is a bad idea all around.

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Vigilante

Yes I agree, but I don't give my cats tuna because it would be impossible for a cat to find a tuna steak without human intervention. Not that it's bad for them in moderation, but that alone is obviously bad. I didn't specify that before and wasn't really thinking that far ahead anyways. The farthest I go outside of "normal diet" (cat food isn't exactly normal either, but they grew up on it so I call that normal) is turkey slices when I'm eating a sandwich.

Now our dogs are a little different, I'll give them pieces of banana and stuff like that (one dog doesn't mind the occasional cooked jalepeno), but I avoid legumes of any sort, safe or not, and of course grapes or any similar fruit.

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snowy

Given what my cats eat up off the floor, feeding them the occasional bit of tuna left over after I clean the can when making a tuna sandwich is the least of my worries. Really, they eat anything. It's kind of gross.

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